Elemental Moon: The Eldritch Files, Book Three by Phaedra Weldon Read Free Book Online Page B

now heated kettle off its stand and poured equal amounts of hot water in each mug. "Marilla is the missing female?"
    " Oui ."
    "And her brother is responsible for turning Jack?"
    Bastien nodded. Suddenly he looked tired, almost like a parent at their wit's end as he rubbed at his face. " Oui . Lucas is perigee, same as his soeur . Only perigee can make a chiot ."
    " Chiot ?"
    "Me," Jack said as he set the kettle back on its stand. "Apogees who accept the pack and the pack accepts them are known as chiot , or pups, because we're turned. Those that are young and born are called loup de chiot. There is a preference given to the perigee, but from what I've been able to learn, perigee aren't born as often as they once were. For every twenty children born to the perigee, maybe one is perigee and the others are human. In this area, the Lycans' numbers have been declining fast for the past fifty years, so they've been forced to selectively choose those to carry on and create apogee."
    "Can apogee have perigee?" The words felt odd on my tongue.
    Bastien answered with a nod. "But the births, they are as rare as any perigee couple. Arduinna has much in store for us, but we don't know why she wants so few of us."
    There was that name again. I needed to educate myself where Arduinna fit into the pantheon of myths I'd grown up with. The world was filled with so many of them, from the Greeks to the Norse, the Native American to even the Witches. Similarities in names as well as positions and attributes bled from culture to culture and I accepted the old adage that all the Gods and Goddesses were one.
    But I was having a bit of trouble accepting that a Goddess whose patronage was wolf-people had a shared pantheon with my own. I didn't think it was because I was stingy with my own Gods and Goddesses, it was just…Witches and wolves? How urban fantasy-esque was that?
    The back door opened before I asked my question about Arduinna.
    Sam!
    My heart melted into my insides, making my middle gooey and golden as Grey came running from the back. I knelt down and scooped her into my arms as she nipped, licked and whined aloud, all the while talking to me. Oh I missed you! They fed me dog food. Dog food! As if I were some ordinary canine in such a foul place. And speaking of foul places—wait until I tell you where they stuck things!
    Bastien's rich, deep laughter made a nice accompaniment to Mom's non-stop complaining. I realized she was broadcasting to the entire pack.
    Then that laughter twisted and became a howl. A dark, spine chilling howl. Grey and I pulled back from our place on the floor as Bastien turned. I stood up as he moved in front of me in a protective stance.
    Jack took an almost comical growling stance by the counter as the two faced the back.
    Crwys and Levi stepped into view; both of them wearing some seriously bored expressions at the display. Crwys was the first to approach. His eyes were red; Levi's were hidden behind shades.
    "Easy there, puppies." Crwys said as he moved around the table and approached me from behind. He was quick and slipped his arm around my waist. "We're not the enemy here. But you and me," he said as he pointed at Bastien with his free hand. "We are going to have a lesson on marking another man's woman."
    Wait…what?
    Jack was the one that spoke. " Diable du feu ," he said in a thick voice. He looked like he was mentally caught in between, as if he wanted to shift but wouldn't or couldn't. It reminded me of the condition of the girl's body in the morgue.
    Levi laughed as he joined us at the table. He put his hands on the back of one of the chairs, standing just a few feet from Jack. Levi is a beautiful man. Physically, he reminded me a lot of the actor Michael Ealy. He wore nice suits, liked to follow the rules and always wore shades. I didn't know if the shades were an affectation due to his allergy to sunlight, or because he looked good in them.
    "Told you, 'Lo," Levi said as he removed his shades and